Friday, September 23, 2011

The Morin Khuur Part Six

The purfling channels are cut by hand using a simple marking gauge and the waste is removed with a tiny chisel. Rather than standard violin style purfling I decided to fill the channel with black veneer for a bold outline.

I sealed the wood using a thin coat of shellac as a barrier. Here, I'm working on building up the yellow colored "ground". The classic Cremonese instruments usually have this base which increases the optical depth of the finish and gives a dramatic golden effect. Using artist's pigments in cadmium yellow and ochre, I mixed a glaze using oil-based wiping varnish as the medium. There's very little pigment - just enough to tint while preserving transparency. A couple of thin coats wiped on with a rag gives the effect I'm looking for.

The back and front, ground in place and ready for body coats of reddish-brown varnish.